A Slight Deviation
by LavenderAndTime
Summary: ...from the original course of events. Let's rewind back to The Stolen Earth- except this time, the Doctor actually reaches Rose Tyler. One-shot, AU. Ten/Rose


**AN- While Ten/Rose is not my main OTP, (my regular readers would know that), I love them to bits and pieces. I found myself consumed with too many feelings following a rewatch of The Stolen Earth, so to consolidate for that I wrote this. It's probably been done before, but this is my own take on it... :-)**

* * *

_A Slight Deviation..._

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Donna asked, and broke eye contact with him to gaze over his shoulder, at something beyond.

No.

_Not something_, he realized.

_Someone._

_Rose._

The thought hit him like a tsunami- of course it was Rose, it had to be- and began to pour throughout his synapses, willing his muscles to react. Before the Doctor could so as much utter a word, he turned around.

Impossible, unreal, a fantasy. Words that were once uttered by him were useless in this turn of events. This was far past mere impossibility. This was a miracle.

Rose grinned back at him, her eyes lighting up and illuminating through the dark. The Doctor's smile was by now wide enough to almost reach his sideburns. Wordlessly, he began to run as fast as he could, towards her.

So did she, nearly running faster than him in the moment, never mind the fact she was lugging along a huge gun. Normally he might chide her about that, but right now he didn't care. Nothing could stop him from sprinting faster _and faster..._

Behind him, he heard the eerily familiar groaning and sighing of Dalek machinery. Rose gasped. He could hear Donna cry out in alarm. His hearts began to pound as he could sense precious time slipping out of his hands. Frantically, he attempted to skid to a halt as the Dalek shot its laser.

And then as suddenly as the threat had come upon them, it was gone. The Doctor heard the distinctive sound of a certain individual and his vortex manipulator materializing into existence. Captain Jack Harkness lifted his gun and blew the upper shell of the Dalek clean off before it could fire at him again. In the corner of his eye, he could still see smoke wafting from the creature's remains.

He was still running, though a bit more disorientated now, granted. That had been an _extremely _close scare. He wasn't even quite sure if the laser had reached him or not, as it was. Maybe it had just grazed him...

Dazedly, he finally reached his Rose. They happily fell into each other's arms, wholly prepared to never let go for anything else in the universe. The Doctor buried his face into her neck, still very much in complete shock. His nose rubbed against the worn leather of her jacket as he breathed in her wonderfully familiar scent, that smell that was only Rose Tyler, one hundred percent.

"B-but you almost died!" she cried out in a muffled sob of relief.

"Shhh," he replied, and gently began rubbing circles into her back. "I'm fine. I'm all right, it's perfectly okay! We're gonna be perfectly okay, you hear?"

"The Daleks are out there, Doctor," she warned, pushing away from him suddenly. "We're right out in the open, we've gotta get inside!"

She began to lead back to the TARDIS, but the Doctor caught her shoulder. "Rose, listen! Please." Her attention now grabbed, he sucked in a large breath of air and began to speak, tenderly clasping her hands in his.

"We've gone through a damn right lot of stuff, you and me," he said, a slight laugh punctuating his words. "I never thought I- You and me, we would-" Pausing, he licked his teeth in thought. "What I mean to say is..."

"What, Doctor?"

He leaned in close, and whispered three words into her ear. Just three:

"I need you."

Gracefully, he stroked his left hand across her cheek, watching as her eyes gazed lovingly into his. A single tear fell over her cheekbone, which he immediately wiped away. Hearts suddenly overcome with emotion, his other hand slipped up to the base of her neck and he swooped in to kiss her. When their lips connected he thought it was a dream. But it wasn't the Doctor saving Rose Tyler; it wasn't the Doctor being kissed by a _possessed_ Rose Tyler; it was the Doctor and Rose Tyler together again, living life the extraordinary way.

Nearby, Jack let out a loud wolf whistle, and he could hear Donna clapping wildly. His arms stretched desperately around her back, needing stability, needing _her._

After a moment, the couple broke apart, Rose gasping for air. Her wide eyes had come to life, and they were beautiful. The Doctor grinned, and wiggled his hand at her. She accepted, flashing that teasing and _oh-so-sexy_ smile where her tongue would poke through her teeth. With a lease of new joy, they began to plod towards the TARDIS, unaware of who lay dying in the shadows...

**~8~**

Just around the corner, a young woman struggled to drag herself behind the trash bins. It was quite the miracle she hadn't died on impact of the Dalek's energy beam. It made sense, of course- it wasn't a clean shot by any standards. She'd purposely run into it; it'd only nicked her right arm. In the short term, there had been time to stumble away unseen. In the long term, however, things would not be as bright.

She grit her teeth and quietly cried out in pain, feeling her organs shutting down in response to the damage the beam had caused. There were only seconds left. The last thing she willed herself to do was to move where she had a clear view of the wildly haired Doctor and Rose, who by now had drifted a good distance down the street.

This would be her gift to him.

"I hope you have fun running..." she whispered, unheard by everyone and everything except for the air. "You clever boy, you!"

**~8~**

Meanwhile down the street, the Doctor- with Rose comfortably at his side- and Jack and Donna were laughing, about ready to head back into the TARDIS. _Just like old times,_ he thought with a smile.

_But hold on..._

The smallest hint of a frown crossing his still-tingling tips, he glanced over his shoulder into the dark, just once. Although he couldn't deduce why, his time senses felt as if something were off. Something vital, something important.

He shrugged, and reached down to grab Rose's outstretched hand. Oh well, it didn't matter right now, anyways. There were more important things to do: defeat the Daleks, for instance, and retrieve Rose's old room the TARDIS had catalogued into indefinite storage.

And as for him and his newly-found Rose, well...

Things between them would be different this time.


End file.
